HKBN takes on Climate Change with expedition to the Antarctica

Transcription

1 For Immediate Release HKBN takes on Climate Change with expedition to the Antarctica (Hong Kong, 04 February 2010) Hong Kong Broadband Network Ltd ( HKBN ), a wholly owned subsidiary of City Telecom (HK) Limited, (SEHK: 1137, NASDAQ: CTEL), is taking lead to better understand climate change through an expedition to the Antarctica, with a corporate sponsorship of US$88,000. On the 10 th February 2010, group chairman Mr. Ricky Wong will join an international team of 57 experts including historians, scientists, geologists and film makers from 18 different countries, on a special Green expedition to the Antarctica, to examine the impact of climate change to the oceans and Antarctica. The oceans play an essential role in regulating global climate and regional temperature; to address climate change, we must address ocean change. Initiated by the Australian environmental group Ocean Geographic in 2008, The Elysium Project is set to commemorate Sir Ernest Shackleton and his expedition team s legendary Antarctic survival epic between 1914 and 1916, as well as to conduct a first-of-its-kind visual and scientific documentation of the region, by a team of world s best photographers, filmmakers and scientists. The project will bear fruit of valuable data for educational and scientific purposes, followed by a feature length movie and book scheduled for worldwide release in This will also be a Carbon Neutral expedition, where experts in climate change science will help calculate the carbon footprint of the expedition, which will be offset by purchase of carbon credits and / or by investing in offset schemes that yield measurable results by team members of the expedition. For more details on the Elysium Project, please refer to the Appendix and visit official website at : HKBN is the principal sponsor of the Elysium Project. Being the fastest growing broadband service provider in Hong Kong in recent years, and determined to become the largest by 2016, HKBN has invested over US$400 million in a self-built fibre network, and shares same spirit of determination, 1

2 ambition and persistence with Antarctica explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Furthermore, we consider the Internet can be a green technology, via dematerialization through up/down loads. For example, we consider e-newspapers, ebooks, emusic, e-movies etc to be far more environmentally friendly than their material counters. Ricky Wong, Chairman of City Telecom (HK) Limited and HKBN, commented: I am very excited, and very much look forward to the expedition. I hope we can bring back from the trip a wealth of valuable scientific findings on oceanic life and climate change for the world and future generations references. - End - About City Telecom (HK) Limited / Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited Established in 1992, City Telecom (H.K.) Limited (SEHK: 1137, NASDAQ: CTEL) provides integrated telecommunications services in Hong Kong via its own self-built fibre network. City Telecom s wholly-owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (HKBN), is the second largest and fastest growing broadband service provider in Hong Kong. HKBN offers a diversified portfolio of innovative products that service over 1,004,000 subscriptions for broadband, local telephony, IP-TV and corporate data services. The Company has built a solid market position with top-of-the-line applications and practices enabling it substantial growth. The company takes great pride in developing its 3,000 Talent force into a competitive advantage. Additional information on City Telecom can be found at For Enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications Investor Engagement Ms. Jessie Cheng Ms. Peggy Chan Tel: Tel: Fax: Fax: chengcm@ctihk.com investor_engagement@ctihk.com 2

3 Appendix About the Elysium Project The Antarctic Peninsula is particularly sensitive as annual average temperature has increased about 2.5C in the last 50 years; this is 2 or 3 times faster than the rest of the world average. This makes the Antarctic Peninsula the most critical region for ongoing observation. The Project aims to produce a documentary and a image index for climate change in high definition, which will serve as a gift for future generations with an imaging epic that guarantees to inspire, invigorate and challenge for preservation of planet earth. About the Explorers Including Ricky Wong, Chairman of CTI Group and Hong Kong Broadband Network Ltd., a team of 57 experts from 18 countries, including top natural conservation photographers, film makers, biologist, geologist and underwater explorers etc. Sailing Route Ushuaia Weddell Sea South Georgia 3

4 Scientific Objectives To document the above and below scenes, flora and fauna that Shackleton and his team would have seen and missed after losing their capsule the Endurance. - Scientists will be conducting plankton imageries to record the density and distribution of krills and plankton in the area of our operation - Researchers will be documenting the ice coverage, glaciers, ice floes density of fauna ie. penguins, seals and whales - With the change in temperature, Geologists will be investigating the impact on the above and underwater terrain. - A huge team of underwater explorers we will be conducting a survey of the coverage of invertebrate fauna. Visual Production To procure visual documentation of the diversity and biomass of animals, glaciers, land and seascapes captured at the end of the 1st decade of the new millennium, with Visual documentation of 24-hour non-stop shoots of selected sites. this will serve as an important reference for the monitoring of climate change. To produce a feature length movie and a book; this shall be the greatest and most compelling production ever undertaken of Antarctica concocted by the creative interpretation of the world s best nature conservation photographers, film makers, artists, musicians and scientists. A broadcast documentary about ELYSIUM is in the plans to record the making of this landmark project. Shackleton s Antarctic Visual Epilogue (SAVE) will become an image database derived from Elysium to serve as a reference index of the Antarctica Peninsula and South Georgia, and will be made available for educational and scientific reference of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia for climate change study. 4

5 About Climate Change in the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves An ice shelf is a thick layer of ice that is floating on the sea. They are fed from the land by glaciers. Ice shelves surround much of Antarctica. Recently, the glaciers that fed the ice shelf seem to now be speeding up their flow down to the sea. This will certainly deposit more water in the oceans, and as this was previously on the land it will add to an increase in sea-level. The Antarctic peninsula doesn t have enough ice to make much of a difference to sea level, but it is best seen as an indicator region that can be observed to enhance understandings of the mechanisms in other parts of the world. Biological Antarctica s only two flowering plant species that grow only on the Peninsula have spread considerably in the last few decades in both geographic distribution and also abundance in the areas where they are found. In some areas they are becoming the dominant species. Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) have also been suffering a steady decline in parts of the Antarctic Peninsula region for the last 20 years. Adelie require pack ice for most of the year and feed almost exclusively on Krill, the sea ice and krill population has declined over the last 20 years with the rise in temperature in the Peninsula region, and contributed to the decline in numbers of Adelie penguins. 5

6 Krill Shortage Studies have shown that stocks of krill in Antarctica have declined dramatically in recent years, as much as 80% since the 1970 s, today s stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago. The reason for this is likely to be a fall in the amount of sea ice in the winter months particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula region. There are commercial implications as well as scientific ones. The Southern Ocean is a valuable fisheries resource, many of the species caught feed on krill. Thousands of tourists are also attracted to Antarctica to enjoy the spectacular wildlife, most of which feed on krill. This decline in krill will also make it more difficult for the great baleen whales to return to pre-exploitation levels. About Sir Ernest Shackleton On 5 December, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team of 27 explorers set sail for the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The mission was to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent, coast to coast via the South Pole. On 15 November, 1915, the Endurance slipped beneath the ice. Stranded all alone, beyond all hope of rescue, the team was to endure the most uninhabitable, the windiest, and the coldest place on earth, surviving on penguins, seals and sea birds for as long as five months, On 24 April, 1916 Shackleton took decisive action and set sail for South Georgia with five of his most able men. Miraculously they survived the 1300 km odyssey, which took two weeks in an open lifeboat across the worlds most treacherous of oceans. The crossing is regarded as the most remarkable rescue saga in maritime history. The story of Shackleton s epic survival and subsequent rescue of his crew on Elephant Island (not a single crewmember was lost) is still hailed as the greatest epic of the century. 6